NAB’s Guide to Careers in Radio

NAB's Guide to

Careers in Radio

Second Edition

by Liz Chuday

CAREERS IN RADIO

Written by Liz Chuday Updated 2008

Radio: Real-Time Immediacy and Intimacy

Exuberant college spring-breakers stuffed in a jeep drive south on I-95 belting out high school favorites blasting from the radio. Love ballads crooned by those with silken voices accompany the movements of a couple, dancing in the moonbeams to the beat of a boom box. Politicians noisily debate on a radio program while people listen, swayed not by appearance, but by the substance of their thoughts. Life saver, companion, chill pill, informer, agitator, global glue, spiritual advisor. At any moment, radio is all of these things and one of these things to someone, somewhere. From the 80-year-old widow in Bangor, Maine, kept company by the family of voices on Talk Radio and the insomniac lulled to sleep by late-night tunes, to the Baton Rouge family staying alive in a storm by real-time radio reports ... people benefit from the presence of radio in their lives. Radio has immediacy. And intimacy. It's real time and has real staying power. As one broadcast CEO likes to say: "Mr. Marconi was able to beat Mr. Bell because you don't need a wire in your car. As long as usage allows people to be contained in their vehicles where they can't easily go to the Internet or computer, radio will continue to have a share of the media pie." Radio is here to stay, but some job parameters have radically changed.

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The Radio Hierarchy ADMINISTRATION The General Manager Let's start at the very top. Not where you'll start, but where you might want to eventually go: the position of general manager.

The general manager (GM), who often has the dual title of vice president and general manager in a larger shop (and who also may be the owner in a smaller shop), is The Big Khahuna. The person everyone tries to please, has a way of dictating that station's tempo and personality and whose management style is often reflected by those under him or her.

Overall accountability for everything pretty much defines this job. Though they head the team and manage the managers, the GMs live and fall by The Financial Sword. When economics aren't going well, the GMs get going. It's a risky position, but well worth the risks for those who perform.

Money management is a top priority. A GM's goals are making or exceeding budget and getting the most out of employees. This may be summed up into that word again: accountability. And it applies to everyone in the shop.

General Managers:

? Look at The Big Picture. ? Set long range and annual objectives consistent with those of the company to

include profit growth, organization and people development in order to maximize revenues. ? Plan the annual budget and submit to corporate within the defined timeline. ? Manage the managers, set the management tone with ultimate responsibility for the performance and evaluation of all departments: sales, G & A, programming, promotion, and engineering. ? Communicate the benchmarks for success to top managers who then communicate them on down the line. ? Set the bar for budgets and performance expectations, plus the penalties for not achieving them. ? Have ultimate veto power, as well as the ultimate say. ? Ensure the station's license is in order and that Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other federal, state and local rules and regulations are followed. ? Keep informed of trends in the radio industry as well as technological developments. ? Effectively disseminate company policy to all employees. ? Balance the many egos with the one station reality. ? Serve as the most visible management representatives in the community at large.

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A traditional path to this top position is through sales ? a trend that continues, although more programming directors are getting anointed with the title "GM." College degrees are mandatory and many GMs have MBAs as well.

General managers working for huge media conglomerates have the ability to rise even higher in the radio hierarchy, promoted to even more senior management positions within their corporate universe.

THE FRONT OFFICE Accounting Accountability and accounting go hand-in-hand. Whether the title is controller, accountant, or bookkeeper, the person charged with managing the day-to-day finances does just that, tracking the ebb and flow of the bottom line and keeping the station out of the red.

Larger stations may employ a full-time financial person who also usually manages the administrative department. Bigger stations generally also employ a support staff of bookkeepers and/or billing clerks along with one or two accountants either on staff or hired on retainer as consultants.

Office Manager Here again is an example of a management position that may or may not occur at a station. Duties cover management of certain administrative and clerical staff, but these also could fall under the auspices of the station's controller or bookkeeper.

Administrative and Executive Assistants This position covers traditional clerical functions such as word processing, answering phones, distributing internal correspondence, mail duties, filing and copying, assisting sales in the physical preparation of sales proposals and client letters, entering radio copy into the correct formats and more. Staffers here often cross departmental lines, helping out in other areas.

Receptionist The person in this position usually is first when it comes to who the public initially reaches when they contact the station. A receptionist greets visitors in person and on the phone, distributes tickets and prizes to listeners while maintaining inventory at the stations that stage such promotions, and assists with other clerical functions as well, maintaining fluency in some key word processing and other software programs. Quite often the receptionist is officially assigned another job as well, with the front-desk position rotated among certain front-office staffers.

A motivated receptionist could always move up, depending on how "value added" they become to the managers they serve.

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It's always a good idea to make friends with the receptionist, especially if you're job hunting. A snub here could mean the difference between getting entry or getting the boot.

OPERATIONS/PROGRAMMING Operations/Programming Director The number two person at a radio station is often the operations director or the controller, depending on the organization. Yet an operations director's duties are quite different from controller, as they manage the station's crown jewel: its on-air product.

In many markets, the job of operations and programming directors is combined. Large radio networks may have an operations director who also serves as the programming director for one or more stations in the group and also works with the programming managers at other stations within the radio family.

An operations director defines the vision for the station's on-air product, manages personnel in this area, cultivates talent and determines the best ways to showcase on-air personalities. Smooth on-air operations and shaping an on-air product that appeals to the targeted demographics are tickets to success in this position.

Programming directors (PDs) have similar charges, yet on slightly smaller scales. Many are responsible for the programming content at more than one station. They work closely with talent and are involved in developing winning promotions that promote the programming side. Some handle creative production and station imaging as well and when there's not a music director per se, they are the ones who pick the "hits."

At smaller stations, the PD also serves as the music director. This person selects the music and determines what gets airplay and what doesn't. New recording artists are desperate to get through to the music director, who is inundated with CDs from recording groups and musicians seeking a venue for their sounds. Many of today's biggest stars were identified by prescient programming and/or music directors who gamely gave them a try.

Bigger stations are more apt to fund this as a full-time position. Today automation has taken over even in this area and maintaining the station's music library is a function of knowing how to maintain the computerized database.

ON-AIR STAFF AND PRODUCTION News Director Logic dictates that stations with an all-talk or news format place much greater emphasis on this position than those with music entertainment formats. A news director defines the journalistic standards for the station and manages the reporting staff at news/talk stations. Otherwise, the news person is part of an on-air team, giving radio reports at scheduled news breaks within a show.

News Reporters Reporters at news/talk stations function much like print or TV reporters except that they write for the ear, not the eye, conjuring mental images by the skilled use of sound. They

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exercise professional, journalistic judgment in investigating, reporting, interviewing, writing, editing and delivering news stories, often with the abilities to ad lib as needed. Excellent writing skills oriented to the radio medium are required along with a basic understanding of broadcast techniques and equipment. They are the station's talent base and represent the station at scheduled events and appearances.

Announcers At smaller stations, many announcer positions are part-time and duties overlap into other areas. A station in the Greenville, South Carolina area, for example, ran an ad for a PT announcer that required this person to announce, play music as directed, operate the on-air control console during satellite-fed syndicated programming, answer phone lines, interview members of the listening audience and make in-person community appearances as directed.

On-Air Personalities The voices of radio bring a station's call letters to life, hooking listeners and drawing ratings for those stations that are personality-driven. DJs and program hosts spin verbal magic, whether it's between musical sets, as part of a morning or afternoon drive team or as hosts of programs designed to inform, provoke, entertain or enlighten the listening audience.

They embody the heart and soul of a radio station and are assigned to different day parts, depending on how the station is formatted.

An on-air job as a DJ or program host is a dream come true for many intent on becoming the next Howard Stern or Larry King of radio. The road to stardom today is more challenging than ever, due to revolutions in technology and consolidation among radio stations.

Public Service Director and Public Relations Director In many cases, the duties of these roles are rolled into another post in the programming or promotions areas. The job of a public service director (PSD) is to screen incoming public service announcements (PSAs) from organizations seeking to promote to a charity or nonprofit event. Often they write, produce and host community-oriented programs that showcase local leaders and focus on topics related to social, civic or political issues.

Public relations directors deal with the press and serve as station spokespeople. The public relations function now is usually relegated to the marketing or promotions manager or is handled by the public service director.

Producers Behind every great radio talent is a phenomenal producer. Producers work with DJs and program hosts to put a show on the air that brings all expectations to life, in animated, aural "3-D."

They work the board, generate show ideas, identify program guests, develop concepts for on-air stunts and gimmicks, are tuned into current events and keep the talent abreast of everything critical to the success of their show. Often producers become part of the on-

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air mix as sidekicks to the main events, and sometimes it is the talent who produces his or her own show.

Assistant Producers The more cash-healthy stations have assistant producers, but even these jobs are often part-time, or are bundled with other station jobs. A more entry-level position, this job is heavy on the details, requires strong organizational skills and a willingness to go to any lengths to get the job done, anywhere, anytime.

Board Operator Mostly a part-time position, the board operator is to radio programming what the job of mailroom clerk was to the advertising agency trade decades ago: a way in. Basic computer literacy is a must. The board operator "runs the control board," regulating the timing of programs and making sure logged commercials, promotions, sweepers and any other programming elements essential to operations air as scheduled. They take transmitter readings and ready the next day's logs. Board operators may be "loaned out" to other departments such as promotions. Those with a "can do" attitude, willing to help out in other areas, often find themselves promoted and can even find themselves on air.

Traffic Director Traffic directors function just like traffic lights: they juggle the programming, commercials and breaks, ensuring they start and stop at the correct times without any accidents in a seamless communications flow. Rapidly evolving technology has redefined this specialty. Traffic directors have ultimate responsibility for the daily broadcast log generation and reconciliation, and oversee input and affidavit processes for all network communications. They design and produce all required daily and weekly reports for sales and management to include inventory, pacing, receivables and projections. They also input client contracts for local and national advertising and create contract confirmations for clients.

Good intradepartmental communication, especially with the sales staff, is essential to maintaining a correct accounting of commercial inventory and providing billing information. The traffic department will fall under "programming" if the station has constantly changing programming; otherwise, it's part of "sales."

Traffic Assistant Traffic assistants work closely with sales and programming, processing time orders, keeping daily maintenance of station program logs, copy input and filing. This full-time position supports the traffic director and calls for strong computer skills and the ability to work in a pressured, fast-paced environment.

Continuity Director Very large station groups may have one continuity director overseeing a number of stations. More than likely the "continuity" person is not a manager, but manages "continuity" for one station or a small group of stations. Continuity is a way into the traffic department as an entry-level, full-time position. Here the staffer takes creative copy sent by the ad agencies, assigns it a number and logs it into the system, then takes the dubs, or physical, audio manifestation of the ad copy and enters that into the system's hard

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drive as well. Sometimes the continuity person fills in at the front desk and helps sales assistants by doing continuity-related reports.

SALES AND MARKETING As the pressures from Wall Street mount and radio faces more competition from more sources, the trend is to downsize management and focus on those jobs with revenueproducing abilities: sales.

Sales staffs have increased by about 15 ? 20 percent over the last decade and so have responsibilities. A radio sales person is no longer a "spot peddler." There is more inventory to sell than commercial spots, especially with the larger operations that have radio stations, outdoor advertising companies, theatrical and live entertainment venues under their umbrellas.

"Non-traditional revenue" became the buzz word of the late 1990s and is the media mantra in this millennium. Regardless of whether you're in radio, TV or print, the challenge is how to get more blood from a stone and that answer is to find new blood ? revenue streams not considered in the past.

Sales people more than ever are marketing experts, thinking out of the box to identify more ways to make a dollar. Clear Channel's Bill Hopkinson, who holds the dual titles of director of sales for three Baltimore stations and general manager for the largest of the trio, explains:

" When I got in the business, I sold for one radio station. Now, if you sell for just one station, you're limited in the market. My sales staff not only sells all three stations here, but they also can package a deal that includes any of our other regional stations in Washington, D.C., Frederick, Salisbury and Ocean City, Md., and ties in our other venues as well."

In addition to its radio and entertainment holdings, Clear Channel also operates the largest outdoor advertising company in the world; most of their stations have an outdoor advertising rep working out of their radio space.

"One of our sales reps at WMZQ-TM in D.C. probably added $400,000 to our revenue last year. Ten years ago, that wouldn't have happened.

"We can offer our advertisers more options with more stations to sell, more opportunities to get their names and products out. With Clear Channel Sports, for example, we could set up an event and bring in a local or national sports celebrity, and turn what would have been a $60,000 radio buy into a much bigger financial package with the added entertainment component. Before, I couldn't use a sports personality unless I was involved with a sports entity. The possibilities are now endless," Hopkinson says.

Director of Sales Those in the position of director of sales (DOS), like Hopkinson, may also serve as general manager for one of the stations within the network. It's all part of the "multitasking" trend.

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